On Monday evening, Kurt called Blaine. Both of them had found it hard to part in the morning, and Kurt found it both reassuring and disconcerting how every weekend, whether they scened or not, their attachment grew. It was a good thing, mostly. Sometimes, Kurt was just afraid that he was moving too fast emotionally, that Blaine maybe wasn't on the same page as him, committment-wise. The next weekend, their trial period would be over, and they would, hopefully, renegotiate their contract and then move on to a fully committed relationship, though how that would look differently from what they did now, Kurt didn't know.

So, he was happy to hear the familiar "Hello, Sir," when Blaine answered the phone.

"Hi, sweetheart. How's your butt?"

He nearly could hear the grin in Blaine's voice when he answered, "A little sore, Sir. How's your hand?"

Kurt grinned. He had made Blaine blow him this morning, claiming his hand hurt too much from the spanking to be of any service in that area. Blaine had told him to stop whining, which had earned him another smack on his still-red ass, but had then complied with his usual enthusiasm.

"A little sore, too." It was true, though. It was a good feeling.

"Something weird happened, though," Blaine continued. "Ruth smacked my ass, something she has never done before, and I kind of...yelped, and she found it so funny she did it again and again the whole day."

Kurt laughed. "Yes, I've heard about that. Apparently, a freshly spanked butt has the same effect on people as a new sunburn. Even though nobody knows about it, people are magnetically attracted and touch it all the time. It's a mystery." He chuckled some more, then akwardly cleared his throat. "Are you up to our renegotiation on Friday?"

He hated the insecurity in his own voice and hoped that Blaine hadn't heard it, but of course, Blaine asked with a trace of amusement,

"Sir? You're not worried, are you?"

Kurt was glad they were on the phone and Blaine at least couldn't see his blush.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I know it's not very Dom-like..."

"Don't apologize. You're not just my Dom, you're my boyfriend, too, remember? I don't expect you to be in control all the time. I know that's not possible, and I wouldn't want you to pretend around me."

Kurt was oddly touched. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"Anyway," Blaine continued. "I think we both passed the trial period. There are a few things I would like to talk to you about when we renegotiate, but it's nothing bad, I promise."

Despite the good feeling he had about their relationship, Kurt was relieved. "Yes, I have a few things, you definitely passed, with flying colors. I – I really enjoy our time together."

There was a faint ringing noise when Blaine answered, "Me too. Um – I don't want to let you go, Sir, but that was the doorbell. My friend Tina is coming. She's teaching me to cook!" He sounded proud.

"Oh! I certainly wouldn't want to stand in the way of that. Have a nice evening, sweetheart. See you on Friday."

During the week, Kurt spent a lot of time thinking about Blaine's offer of sharing. Maybe, at some later point, they could bring in someone else for a scene or two. That thought was hot. But sharing Blaine? What had he been thinking? What had Blaine been thinking? There was no way he would let Blaine just go off with some other Dom, someone who would, perhaps, not treat him the way he deserved. Now, in the daylight, when his mind wasn't addled by sex, the thought was repulsive. The risk was too high, even if they kept to Defiance. He wouldn't put Blaine through this, not after what he had been through. Besides, when he thought about Blaine being touched by another Dom, being expected to obey him...Blaine wouldn't obey anyone but him, ever.

He was a little surprised by his outburst of possessiveness and protectiveness, but decided not to think about it too closely.

...

On Friday evening, Blaine deliberately arrived so late that Kurt would already be there. With him, he brought the ingredients for a simple Asian stir-fry that Tina had taught him,and a bouquet of red and yellow roses. Instead of using the spare key, he rang the doorbell, and when Kurt answered, he offered him the roses with a big smile.

"Happy one month anniversary, Sir!"

The smile on Kurt's face was totally worth the hassle of managing the subway with too many bags.

"Thank you, sweetheart! They're really beautiful."

While Kurt looked for a vase, Blaine unpacked the things he had brought for dinner and then started cooking. It went surprisingly smooth, and though the resulting meal was by no means excellent, it was at least edible. Kurt praised it in a way that Blaine suspected was exaggerated, but he was proud and happy nevertheless.

After dinner, Blaine did the dishes while Kurt got their contract out of his desk. They sat down at the table, and again, it was a little awkward.

"This contract seems to kill all natural conversations, " Blaine remarked. "So I'll just start, if that's okay." At Kurt's nod, he continued. "As I said on the phone, I definitely want to continue our relationship. I'm very happy with the way everything has been, although...I'd like to have a little more time until we try flogging again. I don't think it'll take long, though. You seem to have a way of taking away my inhibitions. That's why...I want to try sensory deprivation with you. I trust you to know how fast and how far you can take it."

...

Again, Kurt was stunned and honored by Blaine's trust. He only hoped he would prove himself worthy.

"Thank you, " he said. "I'm glad. This...it can be really good, I promise. I think it can be really good for you, too." Blaine should love this. There was no other way one could give up control so completely. He was happy that Blaine had decided to allow them to try it, but when he found himself planning a scene, he stopped. Better not to get run away with himself. Besides, there were other things to focus on at the moment.

"There is one thing I 've thought about this last week, and I'd like to add that to the contract," he said after a small pause. "I won't share you. We can think about bringing another sub in at a later point, and we can definitely talk about a public scene. But I won't give you over to another Dom. I - I can't imagine myself standing idly by while you go off with somebody else, or even just to watch while another Dom tells you what to do. The one exception to this is, of course, Elliot if we're at the club, but even that will only be in a platonic way. I don't trust anybody else enough to do this. I don't. I won't give you to anybody else. You're mine."

...

Blaine acted instinctively, changing back into sub-mode immediately and falling to his knees beside Kurt's chair.

"I'm yours, Master," he confirmed and pressed reverent kisses to the insides of Kurt's wrists. The new title came naturally, without thinking; all thoughts had fled him except the one to reassure his Dom that Blaine was, indeed, only his.

"I don't want anybody else. Only you."

He had told the truth when he had said he didn't care, but he couldn't deny he was pleased, if somewhat surprised, by Kurt's sudden possessiveness. So he didn't mind at all when Kurt pulled him up into his lap and kissed him in a way that left his lips bruised and himself kissing back with fervor, but already feeling sinking into subspace.

Kurt took him over the very table they had sat at, roughly and assertive, but with an odd tenderness to the act that had Blaine's mind reeling with confusing emotions of submissive joy at being claimed in such a way, and the desire to comfort and reassure Kurt. Though the sex itself was great, it wasn't an alltogether pleasant feeling. It messed with his headspace, and he was taken out of subspace even faster than he had sunk in it. He ignored it, though. There was no need to talk about this. Usually, with Kurt, he was secure in his submission. He could excuse one slip-up and just focus on giving his Dom what he needed.

Kurt seemed to know something was off, though. He didn't talk about it, but he held Blaine in bed just a little bit tighter. Blaine suspected it was to reassure himself as well as Blaine, but it worked. He fell asleep, once more safe in his Dom's arms.

Their weekend was spent with few words. Kurt seemed somewhat subdued, though trying not to let it show. Blaine tried to help somehow, but it was hard when Kurt wouldn't talk about what was bothering him. The one time Blaine tried to discuss it, he was quickly silenced with an "It's nothing, sweetheart, thank you," and he sensed there was no use in trying again. So he tried to help in other ways, anticipating any wish that Kurt might have, offering relaxing baths and massages and tea. He was happy in his service, and by Sunday evening, he had the feeling that something was better, though Kurt still wouldn't talk. They parted on Monday morning as usual, with a lingering kiss and a copy of their renewed contract in Blaine's bag. Because of this, he didn't spend the week worrying, but simply hoping that whatever the problem was, it would have resolved itself by next weekend.

...

Kurt wasn't sure what it was that was wrong with him, but he knew there was something. He was off; his confidence in himself as a Dom and a person was all but gone, and he wasn't sure why. The thought, the concrete thought of sharing Blaine had set him off, he knew that; what he didn't know was why he had reacted so strongly to it, once he had really thought about it. He was ashamed of his freakout and the way he had reacted to it. He never felt he had less deserved the title of 'master' than when he was actually called so, and yet he had felt reassured by it. He knew he had messed with Blaine's headspace by his weird mix of assertive Dominance and clingy neediness, and he couldn't blame him. Blaine had taken it in stride; he hadn't mentioned it at all, but had behaved like an examplary sub the rest of the weekend, and when they had said goodbye, Kurt had really felt better.

Still. He needed to get over this, whatever it was, either find out what was the cause and fix it, or just pull himself together.

He was pulled out of his uncertainty about whether to talk to someone about all of this when Elliot called to invite him to dinner to the club.

"Not to play, Kurt, I know you don't do that when you're in a new contract. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I want to know how you are. And I want to tell you, before you hear about it from...somebody, that for the foreseeable future, I'll be taking care of Chandler."